After
reading the letters column in the Fall and Winter issues of Juggler's
World. I was surprised to find European colleagues who seem to
have an inaccurate impression of what goes on at our U.S.
conventions.

Our
European friends are proud of the fact that their conventions have a
very playful atmosphere. They seem to feel that the same can not be
said of the American IJA convention. In fact, one letter stated that
"to introduce serious competition would be to destroy this
uniquely playful atmosphere. "

I
strongly disagree, and feel that this type of thinking will only
serve to divide our organization. The IJA embodies all aspects of
juggling; the competitions are just one part of its annual
convention. When I attended last year's convention, I was very proud
of the fact that on any given day you could look out over the
convention floor and see all types of jugglers - amateurs as well as
professionals - helping each other, exchanging ideas, and all in a
very friendly atmosphere.

The
competitions were conducted in much the same way, with all of the
competitors displaying good sportsmanship throughout. By keeping
future competitions under the code of good sportsmanship, I believe
that we can enjoy competitive games while maintaining a friendly
atmosphere.

Past
and present administrations of the IJA have always strived to
improve the quality of each convention, as well as expanding the
public awareness of juggling in a positive way. We as members of the
IJA should never forget that juggling is an art form, and as with
all art forms there will naturally be differences in the way each
artist expresses himself.

Who
is to say that one is better than the other? We as jugglers should
always be respectful of how each of us chooses to express the art
form of juggling. *

Albert
Lucas

- Las Vegas, Nevada

Stats
on European fest

I
enjoyed reading about the 7th European convention in Juggler's
World. To give a complete picture of the convention, here are the
nationalities represented at our festival: 46 people from England,
Scotland and Wales; 5 from Canada; 14 from Switzerland; 3 from Italy;
4 from Belgium; 3 from Finland; 2 from Israel; and one each from
India, Austria, Greece, Kenya, New Zealand and Australia.

I
want to thank everyone for coming to Frankfurt. All together we made
this convention come true, created that atmosphere, "spread the
thought of juggling" and won new friends for it. As a
continuation of the festival, we're now meeting weekly, Thursdays from
5-11 p.m., in the same building where the festival was held. Its the
Volksbildungscheim, Eschenheimer Turm, Frankfurt. Best wishes for '85!
*

Fritz
Brehm Frankfurt

Biased
reporting

Ina recent interview with Don Smith, I learned that Juggler's World
content is biased. (ed note: He was not mentioned in the Winter
issue article "Jugglers By The Bay.")

Donnia,
also known as Ray the Heavyweight Juggler, has been associated with IJA
for two years, and has been performing in San Francisco for the pa

st
five years. It is of no small consequence that Ray is a black juggler.
This in itself his work noteworthy of coverage,

With
a man juggling five fire torches, four basketballs and four bowling
balls as well as flashing nine rings and nine balls, I find Juggler's
World sorely
lacking scope. People are people regardless of they look.
Jugglers are people too,

Mary
Struthers

- San Francisco

Serious
drop-cuts

For the most insensitive question asked to a juggler in 1983 by a
wife in an

other room I nominate, "What are you pounding
on?"

For
the least sensitive remark made by a child too young to hit in 1983 I
nominate "I heard you juggling, dad." Any other nominations
out there? *

Wes
Kobylak

- Rochester Juggling
Club

Juggling
in the movies

Doc
Orbit writing again to tell you about 20 films with juggling scenes in
them not previously on my last two lists. They are:

1.
Song of the Open Road (1944)

2.
Swing Fever (1944)

3.
Operation Petticoat (1959)

4.
The King's Pirate (1967)

5.
The Three Musketeers (1974)

6.
The Pirate of Penzance (1981)

7.
Knightriders (1981)

8.
Kung Fu Commandoes (1982)

9.
Jade Claw (1982)

10.
The Beach Girls (1982)

11.
Paternity (1982)

12.
Lookin' to Get Out (1983)

13.
Octopussy (1983)

14.
Twice Upon a Time (1983)

15.
Two of a Kind (1984)

16.
Bachelor Party (1984)

17.
Splash! (1984)

18.
Moscow on the Hudson (1984)

19.
The Bounty (1984)

20.
Toby's Gorilla (1984)

Of
these, I think "Jade Claw;' and "Lookin' to Get Out" have
the best juggling scenes in them. This brings the total list of films
I've recorded to 105. The big

surprise is that I have finally
gotten myself into a film juggling. It's "Toby's Gorilla,"
filmed in August 1983. I was filmed doing five balls, three clubs and
three torches. I also appeared in background scenes and as a bunny
rabbit!

Doc
Orbit

If
you must smoke...

At
an antiques fair I visited recently in England I spotted an old vitreous
enamel sign advertising "Ogden's Juggler Tobacco." Intrigued
by this I contacted Trevor Buckley of Imperial Tobacco Ltd. which owns
Ogden's who took the trouble to arrange the following photographs and
information.

Introduced
in 1925, Juggler Tobacco is 60 years old on November 28 this year. It
cost 7p. an ounce in 1925 and had the label shown in picture A. In The
1930's the pack design was changed (Picture B) and in1958 it ceased
production as a pipe tobacco and is now sold as cigarette hand rolling
tobacco with the label shown in picture C.

Produced
in Liverpool, it costs I pound 75 (about $2.50) for 25 grams. Mr.
Buckley was unable to find a reason for the choice of name back in 1925,
but it is good to know that jugglers have their own